"The
spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach
good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to
proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that
are bound.”Isaiah 61:1

The Son of God came to make sinners free, “to proclaim liberty to the captive!” What
a word that word “liberty” is. Nothing in all the world can be compared to it.
Social, economic, and political liberty are great privileges; but spiritual
liberty is an indescribable boon of God’s free grace in Christ. Those who have
this liberty are “free indeed” (John
8:31), and shall be free forever! This liberty that Christ gives to all
believers is fourfold.

LIBERTY FROM THE LAW - All believers
are totally free from the curse, penalty, dominion, and terror of God’s holy
law in Christ. Read the Book of God (Rom. 6:14-15; 7:1-4; 8:1-4; 10:4; Gal.
3:13; Col. 2:14-23), and ignore those work mongers who would bring you back
under the yoke of bondage. The law of God has absolutely nothing to do with a
believer (I Tim. 1:6-10). And we who are dead to the law and married to Jesus
Christ by faith have no more to do with the rule of the law than a woman does
the rule of her dead husband, after being married to another man (Rom. 7:1-4).

LIBERTY FROM SIN - The liberty which
Christ proclaims to and produces in redeemed souls is liberty and freedom from
sin (Rom. 6:6, 18, 20, 22; I Pet. 4:1; I John 3:5). By his blood atonement,
Christ has delivered us from the penalty of
sin. By the application of his atonement to our hearts, by the efficacious
grace of God the Holy Spirit, our consciences are purged from the guilt of sin. In regeneration, we are
delivered from sin’s dominion. When
we drop these robes of flesh in death, we shall be freed from the body and being of sin. And in
resurrection glory we shall be freed from all
the consequences of sin forever. This is what Paul calls, “the glorious liberty of the sons of God” (
Rom. 8:23).

LIBERTY FROM HUMAN RELIGION- When the
Son of God sets men free, he frees them from the customs and traditions,
practices and labors of human religious inventions (Col. 2:20-23; I Tim. 4:1-6;
II Tim. 3:1-5). No man, no pastor, no church has the right to impose practices
and behavioral rules upon men that God has not specifically revealed in Holy
Scripture. We are not, and must never try to be, lords of other men’s
consciences. And we must never allow ourselves to be brought into bondage by
others.

LIBERTY OF LOVE - The Lord Jesus Christ
gives regenerate souls a happy, delightful liberty of love and marriage (Rom.
7:1-4). A good marriage is a marriage held together by love, free of law. I
pity the man whose wife serves him because it is her duty! While believers recognize
their duty to serve Christ, they do not serve him because it is their duty. Our
service to Christ arises from deep gratitude and free, loving devotion. We need
no other law to regulate our lives.